Mysuru: "All that Shivalinga Devaru of Basavanapura of Nanjangud taluk had predicted about my brother, Ambarish way back in 1971, came true. He said Ambarish would become a very big man and live like a king and he did," said the late actor- turned- politician, Ambarish's brother, Anand (76), who lives in the house of their maternal grandfather, Piteel Chowdaiah, at Ballal Circle here."

Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Mr Anand recalled laughing at the prediction as Ambarish had not even passed his PUC despite making several attempts at the time. " But all that he said came true," he added. Recalling another of the astrologer's predictions that came true, he said once in 1971, when Ambarish had gone missing from home for 15 days, their mother, Padmamma was very upset and stopped eating.





"A friend of mine , Dakshinamurthy, a notary, had once taken me to Shivalinga Devaru at Basavanapura and so my mother insisted going to him too. When we reached there, he said Ambarish was at a beach and would come back on his own," he recounted. Sure enough, Ambarish, who was introduced to filmdom by Mr Sangram Singh, appeared to be in Goa for the shooting of his first movie, 'Bangaarada kalla' and he came back as predicted.

"Yes, all that Shivalinga Devaru predicted came true. Ambarish became a big man, I am the witness to it," he added. When Deccan Chronicle went in search of Shivalinga Devaru's past in Basavanapura, it found that his original name was Shivalinga Shasthry, and he died at the age of 86, in April 2003.

Mr Anand revealed that he last spoke to Ambarish on November 4.

"Among the seven of us born to our parents, Huchchappa was a sub registrar. Presently I am the only son alive, along with two sisters and have many volumes to talk about Ambareesh," he added.

In a related development, a social activist, Nishanth, has filed a complaint with the cyber wing of the Ashokpuram police in Mysuru on Monday, alleging that a few people had made derogatory statements against actor Ambareesh on social media.